Taiwanese
human rights status by world & local
media Dr.
Joseph Nye (
a former dean of Harvard
University's Kennedy School of Government, and a former assistant secretary
of defense, a deputy assistant secretary of state
) said in a speech
under the theme of "Taiwan's Soft Power" at Dec. 8, 2010 that :“The answer is as long as Taiwan stands for
democracy and human rights, that will be impossible ( the Americans make a
deal and sell out Taiwan for something that they want from China) in
American political culture.”

At March 1,
2013, the review panel (10
int'l experts in Human Rights, e.g., Philip Alston, law professor at New
York University; Eibe Riedel, former member of the United Nations Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Jerome Cohen, law professor at New York
University, etc) urged better
corporate responsibility and transitional justice,
more transparency in government decision-making
on human rights issues...

According to
2013 survey (Dec. 10, 2013)
conducted byThe
Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD )& SHU that shows a "F" score (rating
2.7/5.0 points) on overall human rights status ― in
decline for a third consecutive year
(judiciary,
fair trials.
non-corruption, communication privacy, health rights... all
fail). According to
2012 survey (Dec. 4, 2012)
by the Taipei-based Chinese Association for Human Rights, 43.4% of
the respondents rated Taiwan's overall
performance in human rights protection this year as either “bad”
or “very bad”
, only 38 percent of
Taiwanese held positive views on Taiwan's
human rights of this year, which is far worse
than 57 percent of last year... <Apple daily News> comments Taiwan's freedom of speech is in retreat,
and scholars worry about Taiwan's democracy doesn't work well, <Taiwan News>
uses the headline "Taiwan's human rights get
thumbs-down in poll!"...According to
another 2012 survey (Dec. 7, 2012)
of public opinion by the government-affiliated Taiwan
Foundation for Democracy, Public feels
Taiwan's human rights deteriorating... Official
corruption, the
government’s inability to fill people’s needs and
media independence were top
public concerns...According to DPP's poll in Human Rights Day
(Dec. 10, 2012),
62.3 % of Taiwanese are
dissatisfied with the government's protection of
human rights, 67 % of Taiwanese
are dissatisfied with the
government's protection of judicial
human rights (司法人權),64.9%
of Taiwanese are dissatisfied
with political human rights.
(政治人權)....

According to an opinion survey (Dec. 9,
'10), in general, ordinary Taiwanese people gave "Fail" score to Taiwan's human rights &
democratic
freedom ......, Another survey (Dec.
8, 2011) expressed "scholars criticized : Taiwan has moved
backward on all issues of human rights", the score in the past 3 years is
"Fail". (reported by The Liberty Times)

principal
human rights problems
were labor exploitation of migrant workers by
fishing companies, exploitation of domestic
workers by brokerage agencies, and official corruption.

USA
Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 4-13-2016

●Taiwan's judicial system suffered from some
corruption. Although authorities made
efforts to eliminate corruption and diminish
political influence in the judiciary, some
residual problems remained. Some
political commentators and academics also publicly questioned the impartiality
of judges and prosecutors involved in high-profile and politically sensitive
cases...●total number of
sexual assaults was seven to 10 times the number reported to police. Women
were promoted less frequently, occupied fewer management positions, and worked
for lower pay than their male counterparts.
●Gov. infringed on freedom of the press, violated the
journalists’ human rights, and were meant to deter media coverage of protests. Censorship or Content Restrictions:
Local academics and media activists alleged
that self-censorship continued as some media
chose to present news stories in favor of
the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to
political considerations and the influence
of local businesses with close ties to the
PRC.●Women’s
groups reported that judicial authorities were sometimes dismissive of sexual
harassment complaints.
●Persons with disabilities and HIV-positive
persons remained vulnerable to
discrimination in employment and occupation.
The unemployment rate of persons with
disabilities was much higher than that of
individuals without disabilities. Non-profit
and advocacy groups said many public and
private sector employers opted to pay fines
rather than meeting hiring quotas for
persons with disabilities. There were also
reports of indirect discrimination in the
hiring process, such as employers failing to
provide assistive devices in pre-employment
tests.

Taiwan
was ranked No. 51 (score 24.37 - worse
than 24.83 on 2015's report) according to World Press Freedom Index 2016 released by
Reporters Without Borders (RSF).The main
threat to media freedom comes from China, which has been exerting growing
economic and political pressure on the Taiwanese media. The editorial line of
some privately-owned media has changed radically and it is no longer rare to
find media outlets taking a line similar to the Chinese Communist Party’s
propaganda. Journalistic independence is also threatened by Taiwanese officials
who interfere directly in the editorial policies of the state-owned media.

politically motivated decision that does not deliver justice.

<AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL
>, 4-5-2016

The execution of six
people in Taiwan is a regressive decision, politically
motivated decision that does not deliver justice. / Apple
Daily 4-7-2016.

●Speech freedom / protesters occupied the
Executive Yuan. Police forcibly evicted them the next day using batons and water
cannon. According to media reports, at least 174 persons, including 119 police
officers, were injured in the incident. Local media have reported
incidents of police obstruction and violence directed at journalists who were
covering protests against administration policies. Local academics and
media activists alleged that self-censorship continued as some media chose to
present news stories in favor of the PRC due to political considerations and the
influence of local businesses with close ties to the PRC.●Corruption and Lack of Transparency in
GovernmentShare/
Some legal scholars and politicians alleged that the Ministry of Justice
was not sufficiently independent, claiming that ministry authorities conducted
politically motivated investigations of politicians. authorities indicted
687 officials, including 69 high-ranking officials, on corruption charges during
the year. There were no reports of impunity.●Women/ 7,175
reports filed for rape or sexual assault. As of November courts indicted 810
persons...total number of sexual assaults was seven to 10 times the number
reported to police... women continued to be promoted less frequently,
occupied fewer management positions, and worked for lower pay than did their
male counterparts.●HIV and AIDS Social Stigma/
There was reported discrimination, including employment discrimination, against
people with HIV/AIDS. 60 percent of HIV carriers left their
jobs due to coercion from their supervisors
or workplace bullying. 30 percent
of respondents said they were not willing to
hire or work with HIV-positive persons, and
50 percent said they would reject services
provided by HIV-positive hairdressers and
medical staff.

Taiwan does not deliver justice

London-based Amnesty International organization ,
6-5-2015

The execution of six people in Taiwan today is a
regressive decision that does not
deliver justice, Amnesty International
said.
...“The public outrage at the
horrific murder of an innocent
schoolgirl is totally understandable and
the perpetrators of such heinous crimes
must face justice, but the death penalty
is never the answer,”...

calling again on Taiwan to
introduce an immediate moratorium on executions

The EU ( the European Union) , 6-5-2015

The EU again calls on the authorities in
Taiwan to introduce an immediate
moratorium on executions as recommended
by international experts in March 2013
following Taiwan's first human rights
report, and as observed in Taiwan from
2006 to April 2010.

Taiwan's
press-freedom score from last year's 24 down to 27, ranked no.48
, fell 1 place from last year's

<Freedom House>,
USA ( a
Washington-based think tank
),
4-29-2015

the vigorous and diverse press reports
aggressively on government policies and
alleged official wrongdoings. But, political
polarization, self-censorship, and
indirect communist Chinese influence
somewhat limit the diversity of opinions
in mainstream media. Journalists
occasionally face pressure to
self-censor on topics important to Red
Chinese government. Many Taiwanese
media owners have business connection in
China, or like to earn ads. revenue from
mainland Chinese companies, making them
wary of upsetting Beijing.
Besides, hackers attacked those media
criticizing Chinese government, although
the authority took investigation on
that, Taiwan's press freedom score and
ranking position fell.

ref. Liberty Times, 4-30-2015

Concerns remained in the freedom of
peaceful assembly, etc.

London-based
Amnesty International
, 2-25-2015

A.I.
concerns included Taiwan’s continued use of capital
punishment ( continued to impose death sentences and carry
out executions.), the freedom of
peaceful assembly, prison conditions, housing and land rights
issues, and gender discrimination.

(2) Judiciary : the judicial system suffered
from corruption, and that the impartiality of judges and prosecutors involved in
high-profile and politically sensitive cases had been questioned.

(3) prison: The case of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁)
continued to receive high-profile attention from domestic
and international human rights activists who accused the
authorities of political persecution and criticized the
conditions of his imprisonment,

(4) privacy: some legal
experts and politicians alleged the Ministry of Justice was
not sufficiently independent, claiming that ministry
authorities conducted politically motivated investigations
of politicians.

Taiwanese authorities
illegally wiretapped lawmakers of both the ruling
Kuomintang and the DPP during an investigation that
led to a KMT attempt to revoke Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang
Jin-pyng’s (王金平) party membership.
The
high-profile case of Wang's alleged intervention in a
legal case on behalf of opposition Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming
(柯建銘).

(5) speech and the press: were generally free, pressure
from China and from local businessmen had led to some
self-censorship: e.g., media don't report that Gallup poll
that found Taiwanese were pessimistic about their daily life, etc.

(6) many rapes and cases of domestic violence
were not reported because victims were socially stigmatized, noting that the
number of sexual assaults was estimated to be 10 times the number reported to
Police. About 19,174 children and teenagers were said to suffer
abuse during the year and there were children under the age
of 18 engaged in prostitution.

(7)Death of Hung
Chung-chiu (洪仲丘) has drawn speculations on alleged use
of torture in Taiwan's military.

(8) foreign household caregivers and
domestic workers in Taiwan are unable to enjoy the same
rights enjoyed by their Taiwanese counterparts,
including a minimum wage and/or overtime pay, limits on
workdays and/or workweeks, break entitlements, as well
as vacations.

Taiwan's
media freedom declines

<Freedom House>,
USA ( a
Washington-based think tank
),

May 2, 2014

Taiwan
fell 1 places from the 2013's report.

Taiwan has been ranked 48th in the world for
media freedom and labeled "free" by the US-based NGO Freedom House.

"Freedom in the world 2015"
(Jan. 29, 2015) : Taiwan's score on "Evolution of Freedom"
is same as 2014.

Globally, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden tied
for first place, while North Korea came in last at 197th.

Taiwan’s
ranking for press freedom fell three
notches from last year to 50th

according to the World Press
Freedom Index 2014 released yesterday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

The retreat in Taiwan’s global ranking
reflected China’s growing economic clout, which has allowed Beijing to extend
its influence over the media in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, “which had been
largely spared political censorship until recently,”

The US was singled out for the
conviction of WikiLeaks whistle-blower Bradley Manning, its pursuit of Edward
Snowden, a former contractor at the US National Security Agency, and the secret
seizure of telephone records from The Associated Press.

RSF said the US had suffered “one of
the most significant declines” in press freedom last year, dropping 13 places to
46th in the 180-country index

Finland retained the top position in the overall
list, ahead of the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg and Andorra.

The 2013 Global Corruption Barometer
reported 36% of people (surveyed in TW)
who has used any of eight of government
services in the past year had paid a
bribe (the number is higher than global
average number).

The members of the review panel also include Philip Alston, law professor at New
York University; Eibe Riedel, former member of the United Nations Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Jerome Cohen, law professor at New York
University; and Nisuke Ando, professor emeritus at Kyoto University.

◎ urged better corporate responsibility and transitional justice,
more transparency in government decision-making
on human rights issues
◎
take steps to block mergers or acquisitions of news channels or newspapers
◎ urges the government to reduce prisoner numbers by introducing less
restrictive provisions on pre-trial bail and parole, and...
◎ urged improved rights for Taiwan's migrant workers, indigenous
people, women, gay and transgender people, and people with disabilities.
and so on

"Wiretapping, China Policy Fuel Taiwan Protesters' Discontent"
As with
Edward Snowden’s revelation of extensive
wiretapping in the U.S., the incident has raised
fears of state invasion of privacy in Taiwan. It has also stirred up bitter memories of the
island’s era of martial law under the KMT that
lasted from 1949 until 1987, during which dissent
was not tolerated.

The principal human rights problems reported in Taiwan last
year were judicial corruption and violence against women and
children.

The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
for 2012, released at April 19, 2013

★The report’s 10-page analysis said that “a growing number of observers claimed Chen
was being mistreated,” but that authorities had said the
treatment Chen was receiving was adequate and that his
condition did not warrant parole on medical grounds. the report did say that the 2009 trial of Chen
and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), had heightened public
scrutiny of pre-indictment and pretrial detention,
prosecutorial leaks, other possible prosecutorial misconduct
and transparency in judicial procedures.
The report said that political commentators and academics
had publicly questioned the impartiality of judges and
prosecutors involved in high-profile and politically
sensitive cases.

★principal human rights
problems: “Although the authorities made efforts to eliminate
corruption and diminish
political influence in the
judiciary, some residual problems remained,” the report
said.

★Another serious problem in Taiwan was rape, including
spousal rape, and violence against women. “Because victims were socially stigmatized, many did not
report the crime, and the MOI
estimated that the total number of sexual assaults was 10
times the number reported to police,”...

There may also be a problem with sexual harassment in the
workplace.... judicial authorities
remained dismissive of sexual harassment complaints,” .

★The report said that
child abuse also continued to be a
widespread problem in Taiwan.

★The report also said there
seemed to be discrimination,
including in work environments, against people with HIV/AIDS.
(ps1: worse than UK's princess Diana or China,
ps2: Taipei's social housing policy
rejects AIDS patients - 3.2.2013 apple
daily news )

The nation’s independent press, an effective judiciary
and a functioning democratic political system combined to
protect freedom of speech and the press, the report said.

Hung's
death has sparkled public outrage in
Taiwan and mass protests demanding
justice and reforms in the military
(CNA, China Post).

<CNN>, August 3, 2013

Near a quarter million Taiwanese people marched
and gathered in front of the Presidential Office building on the night of Aug.
3rd (local time) demanding justice for the tragic death of young corporal Hung
Chung-Chu (洪仲丘) and the improvement of human rights issues in the country's
military, Republic of China Army (RCA).

Taiwanese
soldier was murdered by Taiwanese
government.

<CNN>, July 15, 2013

CNN, ireport, July 19, 2013:

Taiwanese soldier Hung Chung-Chu was murdered by
Taiwanese army.

ps: people heard lots of this kind of story
happened before.

Taiwan's
freedom of the press
score drops one
point from previous year's report.

Taiwan's
ranking (No.8) in
Asia & Pacific
fell one place from last year
(No.7).

<Freedom House>,
USA ( a
Washington-based think tank
),

May 1, 2013

The main
reason Taiwan's freedom of press falling
one point from last year's 25 because of a worse legal environment,(Taiwanese
government has put off approving a license for the establishment of a new
television station whose owner's financial status turned out to be unsustainable,
so must give up the plan ).
Political polarization, self-censorship and indirect Chinese influence limit the
diversity of opinions represented in Taiwan’s mainstream media, according to a
new report from the US-based watchdog Freedom House.

world ranking : 47th. Taiwan was judged to have a “free” press
with an overall “freedom score” of 26 points, just one point less free than the
previous year.

Freedom House concerns Taiwan media reports show a strong tendency/bias
on some political parties.

<Freedom House>,
USA ( a
Washington-based think tank
),

May 31, 2013

Taiwan media reflect diverse perspectives and report sayings of government's
corruption and government policies. However, Taiwan media
show a strong preference/bias on some political party, some candidates.

Justice system

In August, the Taipei District
Prosecutor's Office again decided not to
pursue charges against those responsible
for airman Chiang Kuo-ching’s wrongful
execution in 1997.

Taiwan
carried out six executions. As of December, prosecution
and defence lawyers were required to debate sentencing
and related issues in death penalty cases before the
Supreme Court. Indigenous people were caught in
protracted land disputes and the authorities failed to
protect their rights as the post-2009 typhoon
reconstruction process continued. Media monopolies
expanded further. A gender equality education curriculum
was implemented after a year’s delay.

Taiwan
ranked 47th in the world in terms of
press freedom, Taiwan
fell two places from the 2012 in
the global rankings.

The same three European countries that headed the index last year hold the
top three positions again this year. For the third year running,
Finland
has distinguished itself as the country that most respects media freedom. It is
followed by the Netherlands and
Norway.

the watchdog was
concerned about the protests in Taiwan last year against the Want Want China
Times Group’s (旺旺中時集團) bid to buy into another media group.

In Transparency International's 2012
Corruption
Perceptions Index,
Taiwan was ranked 37th,
dropping five spots from last year .

<Transparency
International>, Germany, Dec. 5, 2012

(Reuters) - In Transparency
International's 2012 Corruption
Perceptions Index, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied for first place out of
176 countries - meaning they were perceived to have the lowest levels of state
sector corruption. Sweden was fourth with Singapore ranked as fifth.
(CNA) Taiwan was ranked 37th among 176
nations and regions in an annual global
index on the perception of corruption in
the public sector,
dropping five spots from last year, In
2011, Taiwan was ranked 32nd among 183 nations and territories.

Taiwan has executed
six death row inmates, the first use of the
death penalty this year...

Campaigning human rights group
Amnesty
International has condemned the move as "cold-blooded
killing".

The executions - by shooting - "made a
mockery of the authorities' stated
commitment to abolish the death penalty",
Amnesty said in a statement.

"It is abhorrent to justify taking
someone's life because prisons are
overcrowded or the public's alleged support
for the death penalty," the statement said.

France has
condemned the execution of six
death-row inmates by
Taiwan

French
Ministry of Foreign , and European Affairs,
Dec. 26, 2012

A statement
issued by the French Ministry of Foreign and
European Affairs said Paris “condemns the
execution of six sentenced to death in
Taiwan [on] December 21, 2012."

France urged the
restoration of the
moratorium on capital
punishment observed in
Taiwan between 2006 and
2010 and called on the
country to “open a
national debate on the
future of the death
penalty.”... The
international human
rights group criticized
the Taiwanese government
for breaking its
previous commitments to
abolish the death
penalty and failing to
fulfill its
international legal
obligations under the UN
human rights covenants
of which it is a
signatory — the
International Covenant
on Civil and Political
Rights and the
International Covenant
on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights...

Taiwan was tied with Poland, Slovenia and Trinidad and Tobago for 47th in
Freedom House's 2012 Freedom of the Press rankings,
Among Asia-Pacific countries, Taiwan
ranked seventh.
Taiwan received a total score of 25 points, the same as in 2011.

<Freedom House>
( a
Washington-based think tank
), USA, May 1, 2012

Taiwan scored an 8 for its legal environment (1 point worse than in last year's
survey), a 9 for its political environment (no change), and an 8 for its
economic environment (1 point better than last year).

Other concerns include
the use of criminal defamation laws against a journalist and blogger as well as a
proposed merger that could reduce media diversity."
incidents of news content produced by China's state-run media outlets appearing
in Taiwanese newspapers "under less than transparent conditions."
......

Finland, Norway and Sweden tied for No. 1 with 10 points

Taiwan
handed down more death sentences in 2011
than in any year in the past decade,
despite stating that its long-term goal
was abolition of the death penalty.
Restrictions on freedom of assembly
remained, with no progress made towards
a relaxation of existing, stringent
laws. The authorities did little to
protect the housing rights of farmers
across the island, at times colluding in
their eviction.

Despite continued public demand, there was no
progress on the government’s proposal to amend the Assembly and Parade Law. The
law allows police to forcibly disperse peaceful protesters, and places other
restrictions on peaceful demonstrations.

Migrant workers were unable to freely change
employer. Domestic migrant workers and care-givers were often forced to work
without adequate rest. The media exposed abuse and exploitation of migrant
workers by government officials and celebrities.

it highlighted the problem
of corruption in Taiwan, saying more than
400 officials were indicted on corruption
charges in the past year, including 54
high-ranking officials.

A human
rights report released by the U.S. Department of State was generally positive
about the situation in Taiwan in 2011, but said corruption and violence against
women and children remained prevalent problems in the country.

The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
for 2011, May 24, 2012

The impartiality of judges and
prosecutors involved in high-profile and
politically sensitive cases was being
questioned by some political commentators
and academics, the report said.

In addition, it said the judicial system
in Taiwan “suffered from some corruption.”

Child abuse also continued to be a
“widespread problem,” according to the
report. It cited an NGO estimate of 20,000
cases per year of child sexual abuse.

In addition, the report said violence
against women, such as rape and domestic
violence, “remained a serious problem” in
Taiwan. It said the Ministry of the Interior
estimated that the actual number of sexual
assault cases was 10 times more than what
was reported to the police.

The report also said that foreign spouses
in Taiwan face discrimination inside and
outside of their homes. Forced labor was
found in sectors such as caregiving,
farming, fishing, manufacturing and
construction...

AFP - The running mate of Taiwan
opposition presidential candidate James
Soong claimed he had come under
attack from "electromagnetic waves"
launched by a local intelligence unit.

The highly secretive bureau was not
immediately available for comment.

<AFP>, France, Dec. 1, 2011

<Yahoo> UK & Ireland, Dec 1, 2011

<Bangkok Post>(Thailand), Dec. 3, 2011

Dr. Lin Ruey-shiung (Soong's running mate): "If I hadn't quickly moved out (of
my home), I would have lost my mind," and alleged
that the "attack" by the National
Security Bureau started on September 20,
2011
outside his home and lasted three days.

reported by all local media in Taiwan.

Taiwan's“The National Security Bureau": ... has not
owned the alleged technologies, nor have we used
equipment to harass the alleged targeted person”Dec. 6
2011, Yahoo news.

Taiwan presidential race darkened by
charges of intelligence service monitoring of challenger

<Washington Post>,
January 3, 2012

<Associated Press>, January
2, 2012

Taiwan president race darkened by spying charges;

Taiwan’s presidential
campaign has taken a dark turn, with the opposition
challenger accusing intelligence services under the
control of incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou of
tracking her campaign events for political
advantage. The allegations — unproven and denied
by Ma — conjure up memories of Taiwan’s unsavory
one-party past, when Ma’s party, the Nationalists,
used their total control of the state apparatus to
persecute opponents. While the island has since
morphed into one of Asia’s most dynamic democracies,
many senior civil servants may still believe that
serving the top political echelon involves cutting
corners.

complaints about unfair competition and concerns about Beijing's interference
were present throughout the presidential election campaign.

<Freedom House>,
Washington D.C., USA, Jan. 20,
2012

(1) some criminal law is kept and can be used for suing reporters and internet
blog writers, may against Taiwan's press freedom.
(2)Taiwan's overall rating remained the same as last year 2011 and the
Washington-based group pro-democracy watchdog highlighted last Saturday's
presidential elections in its Freedom in the World 2012 report.

◎ Taiwan ranked
(19th) in the lower half of TI's 2011
“Bribe Payers" index, finishing
19th among the 28 countries surveyed◎ Taiwan fell
from 14th place in the index released in
2008, when 22 countries were
scrutinized. ◎ The
Berlin-based organization asked 3,016
business executives in 30 selected
countries how often companies in the
countries polled engaged in bribery.

Taiwan received a grade of 6.1 [on a
scale of one to 10] on the corruption perception index ( Asia's ranks : New
Zealand 9.5, Singapore 9.2 , Hong Kong 8.2, Japan 8.0).

<Transparency
International>,
Germany,
Dec. 1, 2011

Taiwan ranked 32 on the corruption
perception index ranking released by Transparency International, but still
lagged behind some of its more economically advanced neighbors, such as Japan
and Singapore.

To improve Taiwan's rank, the government must launch a long-term education
campaign to raise citizen awareness of the values of clean politics and
governance, besides, the government and the legislature must be more cautious in
handling issues related to government officials' special allowance funds, etc.

With an overall score of 25 on
the annual report’s zero to 100
scale, Taiwan dropped one spot to
48th
from 2010.

Taiwan’s scores
have declined
three years in a row.

Freedom House ,

Washington D.C., USA

May 2, 2011

In the Freedom of the Press world survey Washington-based watchdog
organization Freedom House.

Taiwan's press freedom in 2010 was
ranked 47th
among all nations, slipping three
spots compared to 2009.

Taiwan's
rank :
2008 - 32nd ,
2009
-
43rd ,
2010
-
47th ,
2011 - 48th

Freedom House, a Washington-based
non-governmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom
around the world.

Amnesty International Taiwan deputy secretary-general Yang Tsung-li
criticized the government, saying it used a lack of public consensus as an
excuse to uphold capital punishment.

The executions last year were carried out
one day after a hearing on the issue, and the executions in March came less than
one month after Ma offered an apology to the family of Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶),
who was found to have been wrongfully executed

The report also criticized Taiwan's government for what it said was its
failure to deliver on promises to amend the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) that
limits citizens’ rights to assembly and free speech.

It also voiced concerns over the slow progress to enact a judges’ act to
address corruption scandals involving high court judges and over the working
conditions of migrant workers.

Sep. 7, 2011
according to the survey conducted by the National Chung Cheng University.

Four out of every five Taiwanese have serious doubts about the island's judicial
system following a string of scandals and controversial rulings...

About 81
per cent ... did not believe judges had the skills to reach fair
decisions,... Sixty per cent... had no confidence in a special anti-graft
government body, the Agency Against Corruption... set up after three senior
judges were indicted for taking bribes in exchange for not guilty verdicts. The
judges were later sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

The Straits Times, breaking news,

Taiwan's Apple Daily,

9/7/2011

There were still problems with
corruption, violence and
discrimination against women and
children, as well as human
trafficking.

USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, issued
April 8, 2011

(1) officials & police corruption.
(2) Violence against women, including
rape and domestic violence, remained a "serious
problem.
(estimated that
the total number of rape, spousal rape was 10 times the number
reported to the police,
- 6818 rape/sexual
assaults were filed till Sept 2010, till
Nov. 2010, 91457 family violence, 22089 children abuse cases were filed. )
(3) judicial authorities remained
“dismissive” of complaints of sexual harassment in the
workplace.
(4) Child abuse continued to be a widespread problem. sexual
abuse was more prevalent than the public realized, with the
estimated number of victims reaching approximately 20,000
annually, while only approximately 3,000 were reported.
(5) foreign-born spouses were targets of discrimination.
(6) abuses of foreign workers.
(7) authorities increased their placement of advertisements
packaged as news reports in local newspapers and television.
(8) trafficking in persons

For the past two years, Freedom House has downgraded Taiwan's
rating in its annual report on global press freedom. Critics say
it's common for government propaganda to masquerade as 'news.'

the Christian Science Monitor, USA

▼ ...many observers say that the
glitter of the island republic’s free press has been overrated, especially in a
highly commercialized news culture that is both deeply partisan and prey to
political favors.

▼The placement of advertising as news is only the “tip of the
iceberg,”

▼One example of creeping government influence is the media's
minimization of criticism of government policies and
exaggeration of its achievements, says Guang, who teaches
journalism at National Chung Cheng University.......“Taiwan’s news media are not yet independent,” says Guang.
“Can the public really accept this?”

Jan 3, 2011

Taiwan's "Freedom from
Corruption"
scores 56, which is
worst
since 2007

A joint project of The Heritage
Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.

The
the Index of
Economic Freedom rankings on a 1-100
scale , Taiwan's economic freedom score is
70.8, Taiwan is ranked 7th in the Asia–Pacific region.

Amnesty
International has condemned today's
execution of five men in
Taiwan......
"The Taiwanese authorities have
repeatedly stated their intention to
abolish the death penalty, but they
have - yet again -
acted contrary to
their own commitments and against
the global trend towards abolition
of the death penalty," said Sam Zarifi Amnesty International's
Asia-Pacific Director.

More than 70 people remain on death row in Taiwan.
Family members are not informed about scheduled executions in
advance. They learn about the executions afterwards when they are
invited to collect the body from the mortuary.

<Taipei times>, Mar 5, 2011 , The German government also
expressed concerns over the execution.

ps: the United Daily mentions Taiwan's media reported too much about
those prisoners' life details .

Taiwan: Abolition of the Death Penalty in Taiwan: a
Further Serious Setback

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT,

3 June 2010

Amnesty International is deeply disappointed that
Taiwan’s Constitutional Court has rejected a
petition to halt executions made on behalf of 44
death row inmates. The petition, filed by the Taiwan
Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP), argued
that Taiwan’s application of the death penalty was
unconstitutional and violated the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Amnesty International considers the death penalty
the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
and a violation of the right to life.

Amnesty International urges the government of Taiwan
not to carry out executions and to make concrete
progress towards its long stated goal to abolish the
death penalty.

By resuming executions the government in Taiwan is
out of step with global trends. Across the world,
more than two thirds of countries have abolished the
death penalty in law or practice and in 2009 only 18
countries were known to have carried out executions.

One out of 4
serious problems ―
trafficking in
persons, US Country
Reports on Human Rights practices

2010 Trafficking in Persons Report Taiwan (Tier 1)
Released by the U.S. Department of State, June 14, 2010

Taiwan is a destination, and to a much
lesser extent, source and transit territory for men, women, and children
subjected to forced prostitution and forced labor.

Some women from Taiwan are recruited
through classified ads to travel to Japan, Australia, the UK, and the United
States for employment, where they are forced into prostitution. Taiwan is a
transit territory for Chinese citizens who enter the United States illegally and
may become victims of debt bondage and forced prostitution in the United States.

Head line of the United Daily News ( Taiwan's major news) comments it
as "Inflicted serious damage on Taiwan's image".

reported by the Jakarta Post (May 14, 2010), and some major world media
: BBC website, the Straits Times (Singapore), Associated Press, AFP, ABS-CBN TV (Philippines),
India Times, and DailyMail of UK, etc.

Indonesian
government condemns
such action(
forced foreign-labor workers to consume pork)
as it was
against
appropriate
values,
calling upon
the
Taiwanese
government
to pay
“serious
attention”
to the case.

According
to the
Taiwan media
and USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices 2010,
Taiwan has
always
abused
foreign workers.

European Union condemns the executions of death penalty in Taiwan,
May 2010.

(2)
The European Union's strongly held view in favour of the
abolition of capital punishment is well known. The European Union
considers that the abolition of the death penalty contributes to the
enhancement of human dignity and the progressive development of human
rights.

(1) statement at May 1, 2010.

(2) by the spokesperson
of EU High Rep. for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

(1) <Computer-processed Personal Data
Protection Law> has not been modified to a good version for a long time.

(2)
Taiwanese privacy status just like <1984>.

Liberty Times, Feb 22, 2009

Public media independence threatened, despite government denials

Reporters Without Borders, Paris, France

Reporters Without Borders urges President Ma
Ying-jeou to keep his promises to us to respect public media
independence.

2008 Dec 17

More than 10 journalists injured during opposition protests
against Chinese visit

Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders deplores the violence against journalists in
Taipei in the course of protests against a visit by a Chinese government
representative during the past few days.

At least 10 journalists were injured during
protests on 6 November by supporters of the opposition
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) against the meeting in
Taipei between President Ma Ying-jeou and Chen Yunlin,

Nov. 8, 2008

Taiwan is a "Police State"

the China Times visited Parliament member

(1) Almost all members of Legislative
Yuan ( legislators are about same as Congressmen / Senators) and Parliament leader were
eavesdropped ...

Supreme Court : Death penalty is accordance with the provisions of the
Constitutions of ROC Taiwan, all judges should not take 2 conventions of human
rights as excuses, capital punishment is for " punishment ", not for
"enlightenment"/"education".

<Apple Daily News>,
Front-line news, 3.7.2016

White terror returns!!
Taiwan MP abused their power to entrap and search a Taiwanese (suspected of
selling White Terror-era documents) house without search warrant
and
forced to take him to MP
station, he is under investigation for Offenses of Receiving Stolen Property
(贓物罪) and Offenses Against Privacy (妨害秘密罪)...after this, MP gave him NT
dollar15000 trying to "seal his mouth"...

An old Chinese saying, "He who steals a hook gets hanged as a
crook, he who steals the kingdom makes himself a duke " is still valid in
current Taiwan, Taiwan even is in an extremely serious situation - very
ill in politics and media... (周陽山、沈美真)

<Apple Daily News>,
headline news, 1.11.2014

pic. above: Taiwan police monitor all Taiwanese people & Who is "enemy of the
state"? Ans is Taiwan's public institutions.

... Facing
an apparent
suicide bid
(Taiwanese man drives large truck into
presidential office building
for protesting Taiwan's
judiciary problem
- injustice),
Taiwan president Ma expressed that Taiwan's government should think about
Self - examination and
fundamental/radical reform to reduce the popular agitation/public
grievances/Taiwanese people dissatisfaction. (政府也要思考、檢討，因為民眾不滿才會有這樣的動作，如何從根本面減少不滿，這是政府必須要檢討的。)

<The Liberty
Times>, TaiwanSept. 25,
2013

pic. above: 1/4 Taiwanese people (6 million persons) are being listened by
Taiwan's government per year, conservative estimated by the field of
justice/laws
(Judicial Yuan communications surveillance statistics).The
number of permission to listen Taiwanese issued by the court is actually about
the same as that in USA, but the population of Taiwan ( 23 million ) is only
about 1/10 of Americans...

In Human Rights
Day (Dec. 10, 2012), DPP's Policy Research Committee: a recent poll indicates
that 62.3 % of Taiwanese are
dissatisfied with the government's protection of
human rights.

<Liberty Times>, Dec. 11, 2012

DPP's Policy
Research Committee: a recent poll indicates that 67 %
of Taiwanese are dissatisfied with the government's
protection of judicial human rights. (司法人權),
64.9% of
Taiwanese are dissatisfied with
political human rights. (政治人權)...

<Taiwan News>, Dec. 5, 2012

Taiwan's human rights get
thumbs-down in poll!

More than 40 percent (43.4%) of
the respondents in an annual survey rated Taiwan's overall
performance in human rights protection this year as either “bad”
or “very bad,” the Taipei-based Chinese Association
for Human Rights said yesterday.

About 53.5 percent of the
respondents gave the protection of judicial human rights a
negative rating, compared with 21.4 percent who rated it
positively.

<United Daily News>, Dec. 12, 2012

The minister of Control Yuan ( Impeachment,
censure, investigation, Inspection, audit, etc) Wong expressed officials who
never admit their human rights mistakes are full in Taiwanese government, Taiwan
does not have "public servants" ... most human rights problems are caused by
Taiwanese government ...

<Taipei Times>, Dec. 8, 2012

Public feels
human rights deteriorating

DISSATISFACTION:Official corruption, the government’s inability to
fill people’s needs and media independence were top
public concerns, according to a survey of public opinion by the
government-affiliated Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (conducted by Shih Hsin
University),...
Corruption was the target of the greatest public dissatisfaction, scoring 1.9
points. It was followed by the government’s ability to respond to people’s
needs, which garnered 2 points, and external interference
in judicial rulings, at 2.1 points.

<Liberty Times>, Dec. 5, 2012

Chinese Association for Human Rightsyesterday released the "2012 Taiwan Human Rights
Indicator Survey" results show the satisfaction of the people of Taiwan for the
protection of human rights continued to decline...

survey shows that only
38 percent of Taiwanese held positive views on Taiwan's
human rights of this year, which is far worse
than 57 percent of last year...

The Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) chairman: Taiwan currently faces two major human rights
crises: prosecutors that abusetheir powers to persecute the people, and
private interests that wield dangerous power over the media, Su said, pointing
to China as one of the big players in the monopolization of Taiwan's media.

<Taipei Times>, Dec. 11 2012

The Democratic
Progressive Party: The erosion of human rights under KMT's
administration, in particular regarding the judiciary and
media, has placed Taiwan’s proud democracy in
jeopardy and requires attention from the international community, ...
applying a three-part strategy to monopolize local media
by first “paralyzing the public television system and controlling the Chinese
Television System,” then following up with Want Want China Times Group’s
(旺旺中時集團) “vertical integration of a cable television service and horizontal
integration of its pending merger of the Next Media Group.”... Implementing the
Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) was the most glaring example of Ma’s
noncompliance with the covenants,... there were two major crises in
Taiwan: first, people’s suffering from the sluggish economy; second, the
backsliding of human rights and the re-emergence of authoritarianism.

<United Daily News>, Dec. 1, 2012

Although Taiwan keeps announcing it's a
"Human Rights" country, experts question that till now Taiwan is still one among
very few nations (7-8 nations, most of them are communist countries, red China
not included) refuses AIDS foreigners enter (e.g., Magic Johnson, a NBA star),
and monitors AIDS people by nation's machine for a long term, Taiwan does not
care about human rights ...

<Liberty
Times>, Yahoo news taiwan, etc ,
Oct. 1, 2012

"The people have the freedom from fear!"
the Wu Zhaohan (吳兆漢)
case confirmed
that illegal eavesdropping indeed
has been existing in Taiwan,
the severity degree is about same as
American's Watergate case , ...
not be able to eliminate Taiwanese
people's worries,...
Both pan-blue and pan-green Legislators
pointed out
illegal eavesdropping Taiwanese people
(or even in the name of "state
secrets"
) can not be accepted,
... "This
is exactly what Taiwanese people most
worried about for a long time!"...
the concerns of the people has not
eliminated; ...
In the past 4 years
Taiwanese government's (or KMT's)
illegal eavesdropping were from bad to
worse, not only legislators feel
insecure, but also the DPP
President candidate Tsai Ing-wen (during
last year's presidential election)'s
campaign schedules (蔡英文多次被掌握行蹤)
repeatedly were known by KMT , which
proved KMT administration has never
stopped this illegal eavesdropping,
surveillance behavior......

“Other aspects
of President
Chen’s prison
conditions, such
as having to
sleep, eat, and
write on the
floor and the
prevalence of
dripping water,
insects, and
other sanitary
problems are not
normally of
conditions found
in modern
democracies
governed by the
rule of law.”

<Taiwan News>, April 21, 2012

As for President Ma
Ying-jeou's first human rights report released
yesterday, Wellington Koo (顧立雄), an attorney who
represented the Judicial Reform Foundation said that
obtaining testimony through “inappropriate ways,”
such as torture or threats, still occurs in Taiwan,
and such illegally obtained testimony is still used
in court...

Human Rights Covenants Watch convener Kao Yung-cheng
(高湧誠) said "we only see the government dressing up
human rights conditions in the country, instead of
trying to touch the core of issues, and make
profound changes.”, “The government is not facing
some real human rights violations happening in this
country, ...

<Liberty Times>, April 21, 2012

DDP said Taiwan's
first human rights report is full of empty boasts
and obfuscations ...

DDP Critics said
freedom of the press was deteriorating... During DDP time,
Taiwan's press freedom status went from world 35th up to 32nd, but in KMT's
administration, this status dropped from 43rd down to 48th place.

Taiwan Alliance to
End the Death Penalty executive director
said it's (
abolish capital punishment ...
) a lie in public (「公然說謊」).

President Ma :“A great
number of human rights violations are committed by
governments and we need to establish internationally
accepted standards and ensure public servants are
aware of the importance of protecting human
rights,...”

On Mar. 8, 2012, pig farmers across Taiwan voiced their
opposition to the government's possible decision to
relax import restrictions on beef containing
ractopamine with a protest rally in front of
the Legislative Yuan and the Council of Agriculture (Taiwanese
government)
, Taiwanese police arrested
them for their violation of the Assembly and Parade Law,
...... they scolded this had a contempt for
international human rights conventions.

<Apple Daily News>, Feb. 29, 2012

"Taiwan's human rights status is still same as that 65 years ago", by 228
political event's victims families who are angry at the saying "228's victims
only 1000- persons" by KMT's top positioned politician.

<Apple Daily News>, Feb. 28, 2012

Taiwan's largest ever labor
inspection found out 2591 companies' illegally violation of the Labor
Standards
Law
(《勞基法》), the ratio of
overall inspected companies is up to 30%.Taiwanese labor group criticized
that state-owned enterprise ranks top 3 in most serious list and this result is
just "the
tip of the iceberg".

<Liberty Times>, <Taipei Times>, Dec. 9, 2011

Taiwan
Brain Trust published at Dec. 8, 2011 a report
claiming that Taiwan has moved backward on
human rights issues.
Former Minister without Portfolio Hsu
Chih-hsiung: the nation’s human
rights record has plummeted in the past
three years.

<Taipei Times>, Dec. 9, 2011

A survey conducted
by Shih Hsin University on behalf of the
government--affiliated Taiwan Foundation for Democracy,
showed the public ranked the country’s overall human rights
situation slightly higher this year than last year, but downgraded the government’s performance in protecting the
freedom of the press.

"National
Sexual Prison "(「國立性煉獄」)
: What a shame on Taiwanese government ! So
many sexual harassment crimes , and sexual assault cases in
Taiwan,
...... far more than
the number reported by media, we can say
Taiwan has already became a society
hostile to the female. Shame on all Taiwanese,
particularly, shame on Taiwanese government......

Taiwan's president Ma : The one
most easily hurt human rights is the government.

China Times, Oct. 11, 2010

DPP wanted to establish a human
rights committee in Taiwan long time ago... but KMT ( Taiwan's "Chinese
Nationalist Party" - an opposition political party)
stopped it again and again at that time... it's very weird that today KMT
suddenly wants to establish it ...

Liberty times, Oct. 11, 2010

Taiwan's human rights have been moving backwards,
the purpose of setting up a human rights committee is hiding ...

Human rights is the most important issue ...
, but till now KMT's Taiwan government just thought of setting up a human rights
committee (KMT won again its presidential election in '08)...

DPP was trying to set up a
human rights committee... but KMT (opposition political party) blamed it
on "black committee" (under-the-table committee), and asked Taiwan government to
dismiss the committee...

"The reason is all Taiwan gov. did is cheating/phony ! ", The Liberty Times
comments bad record of Taiwan's human rights, ref. USA Country
Reports on Human Rights Practice, Mar 20, 2010 ( The word "cheating" above , can be direct translated as
"phony", " false", "fake" or
"untrue".)